|
When Laura Alexander went to kindergarten, she’d already read most of the books in the room.
So school officials evaluated her and sent her on to first grade, where they discovered that she’d read many of those books, too.
At just 16 years old and already a senior at East Rowan High School, Laura died Friday in a car accident in southern Rowan County.
Another East Rowan student was riding with her and survived. Chris Privett, 16, of 5880 Old Concord Road, is listed in satisfactory condition at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.
“She was a very bright, intelligent girl, and a very sweet girl,” said her mother, Deborah Alexander. “She was kind of quiet at school, but had a real outgoing personality at home.”
Laura excelled at math and science and hoped to become a meteorologist, her mother said. Weather fascinated her, even as a baby, Deborah said.
She went through special training to become a weather spotter for forecasters in South Carolina, Deborah said.
Laura especially loved hurricanes and tornados, and no tourist attraction could compare to the intense lightning she witnessed during a recent visit to Florida.
She hoped to attend college there.
“She didn’t like to be indoors. I guess she was like her dad in that way,” said Deborah, who will teach art at Southeast Middle School when it opens. “They like to be outside where the action is.”
Wayne Alexander, the Rowan County forest ranger, took his daughter to Charlotte twice a month last year to attend People to People Student Ambassadors meetings.
The group was studying Great Britain in preparation for a summer trip to Wales, Ireland and England, where they lived with host families.
Laura longed to go and found a job at the McDonald’s on East Innes Street to help pay her way, Deborah said.
The students returned from Great Britain just before school started.
“She loved it,” Deborah said. “She wanted to go back. She thought it was so beautiful.”
President Dwight Eisenhower started the ambassador group with the belief that if young people from different countries learn about each other and spend time together, they will work toward world peace, Deborah said.
Laura was nominated for membership last fall and went through a rigorous interview process. The Alexanders still don’t know who nominated her.
When she died, Laura had reimbursed her parents $1,800 for the trip.
Laura and Chris were on their way to pick up two more friends for a movie at Concord Mills, Deborah said.
They were traveling west on Corriher Gravel Road in Laura’s red Plymouth Sundance when she lost control in a curve, Trooper K.J. McCray said.
The road was slippery, but McCray said that wasn’t a factor. Laura was speeding, but he couldn’t estimate by how much.
No drugs or alcohol were involved, he said. Laura was wearing a seat belt, McCray said, but it was unclear if Chris was.
Donna Privett, Chris’s mother, called Deborah and Wayne several times Saturday, but they kept missing each other, Deborah said.
The Alexanders kept up with his condition throughout the day.
“He is doing much better. A lot of prayers have been answered,” Deborah said. “It’s not life-threatening, as we first thought.”
Besides weather, Laura also loved music and dance. She was the co-captain of the East Rowan dance team this year and enjoyed performing at half-time and other events, Deborah said.
In her memory, the Alexanders have created the Laura Elizabeth Alexander Scholarship Fund, in care of First Presbyterian Church, 308 W. Fisher St., Salisbury, N.C. 28144.
“She considered the trip to England her dream come true,” Deborah said. “We can use this to help other students do something with their lives and their dreams.”
Laura had a younger sister, Julie Kathryn Alexander.
|
Today's News